Mexican Americans are still fighting for land they were promised generations ago | Nightline

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Published 2020-10-01
The Southwest was once part of Mexico. When the U.S. took over, families there were promised citizenship and protection of their land. Their descendants are still fighting to reclaim what’s theirs.

Connie Gonzales is an heir to Jose Nicolas Ballí, who was given Padre Island by the King of Spain. After a 22 year search, she learned her family was owed mineral royalties from selling the land.

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All Comments (21)
  • @AK47z
    As a Chicano in my 30’s, I was never taught this in school. Gracias.
  • @Canation89
    Abraham Lincoln was asked what he thought about the American-Mexican war and he said that's nothing to be proud of as we stole land, somewhere around those words
  • Thank you for shining light on this. My family has always been in the Rio Grande Valley. I always hated when I moved up to Dallas that people would tell me “to go back go to Mexico” but we’ve always been here the border just moved.
  • @soulglo45
    "Go back to Mexico", they never left.
  • @savhannah9889
    "The US was not content with what it had" sums up most of America's history.
  • @ginab1687
    Thank you for reporting on this and posting this
  • @valdoveiba83
    Justicia para México 🇲🇽 justicia para los mexicanos, desde el otro lado estamos orgullosos de su resistencia y de su organización.
  • @stewart2589
    When the cult tells someone to go back to their country but don't realize that much of them were always there
  • @petessmith6623
    Most Anglo Americans today are of German ancestry who mostly came to America in the 1900s way after the dust had settled.
  • @kile1058
    Its not that they weren't given promised land, they had their land stolen from them.
  • Native and Mexican was done the same way by government taking they land away we alwayz been here remembering my grandma how much land we had
  • @BearMarie96
    Those of us who understand what America was built on know better than to believe the lies that are spewed about Mexicans & other ethnic groups. It’s not fair or right to judge others just because of where they come from rather than the type of people they are individually. I’m sorry that you’ve been treated with such disgrace. 😞
  • @Mrjones-ed7hi
    I didn't even know this maybe they should be teaching this in schools because you have all these ppl going around calling someone else and illegal when they should be really looking at themselves.
  • @MarcoS-fb3qr
    The U.S has always had a racist mentality since it was founded. It’s time to make a change. It’s time to respect and honor all diversities. We’re all human beings. We are all exposed to the sun.
  • @hangten0346
    Our hearts have never left the land that our ancestors have walked, lived and died on.......I truly believe this is why the mexican population has grown so much.....karma brings things back even if it takes time.....we are stronger than ever mi gente
  • @odar9729
    Finally someone telling the truth!
  • I keep explaining over and over to people the native tribes that occupy California, Oregon, Whyome, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Washington, and Nevada today are nothing but the Mexicans that chose to stay in the United States instead of flee deeper into Mexico. During the time of the Mexican war all the western part of the United States, was northern Mexico. What this means is that all the Native Americans from those western states (which use to be northern Mexico), the same people as the native Mexicans. Most of the native population during the Mexican war fled deeper into Mexico ( which was know back then as southern Mexico). What I'm trying to say is that the Indians are alive and stronger than before because the native Mexicans are the Indians and the Native U.S Indians, are the Mexicans the are one and the same.
  • What I find strange is that we learn a lot about America history, world war 2, slaves of black but they never really talked about Mexican history with the U.S. between the land. Only mentioned the war and winning. But never go into detail about it
  • My neice found my dad's New Mexican birth father. Our Gonzalez ancestors came in the 1600s to avoid the Inquisition. (Sephardic Jews.) My dad's birth mother was an Alaskan Native. We are now members of her tribe.